Jorge Argueta, illustrated by María Jesús Álvarez, translated by Joe Hayes & Sharon Franco,
The Fiesta of the Tortillas/La Fiesta de las Tortillas
Alfaguara, 2006

Ages 4-8

In this bilingual book, The Fiesta of the Tortillas/La Fiesta de las Tortillas, a little mystery and a lot of flavor grace the kitchen where award-winning author Jorge Argueta spent part of his childhood, and where once the 'Spirit of the Corn' visited his family.

Koki (Argueta's childhood nickname) remembers a handful of tías (aunts) and primos y primas (cousins) coming and going in the busy kitchen of his family's restaurant in El Salvador; day in, day out their hard-working hands created different rhythms while making corn tortillas. The illustrations by María Jesús Álvarez beautifully mix real fabric images with drawings of clothes, table cloths and other details to add a perfect touch to the lively descriptions of kitchen scenes.

When one after another of his aunts starts hearing the sound of rhythmic clapping coming from the kitchen at odd hours, a string of secretive, individual attempts is made to try to figure out who could be "the woman, man, spirit or ghost that came early in the morning to make tortillas with a such a cheerful rhythm." One by one they try to catch the prankster in action, to no avail.

Finally, early one morning, all the cousins and aunts gather in the kitchen at the same time. Afraid of Aunt Júlia's angry, sleep-deprived face, they start pointing fingers and blaming each other, until they suddenly notice her frown turn into laughter. Clapping a happy rhythm, she starts singing a song they have all known since childhood. Upon realizing that by standing in a circle, around the open fireplace where the tortillas are cooked, they seem to form a giant, human tortilla themselves, the family figures the noise they had all heard in the kitchen must have been the "Spirit of the Corn", paying them a visit.

The book uses some excellent imagery and keeps the suspense going throughout the narrative. This is a fine bilingual book and Argueta's featured glossaries for both versions of the text are sure to improve one's Spanish vocabulary.  It is only a shame that we are not given more background information, especially as regards the reference to the 'Spirit of the Corn'. Adults might know or intuit its significance, but young readers can easily miss out on the whole unspoken reference to corn and the role it plays, both literally and metaphorically, in indigenous cultures. The author is himself a native Salvadoran and Pipil Nahua Indian. Some say the great civilizations of Mesoamerica could not have existed without corn. Argueta's story would appear to concur with that: his family is still "one big tortilla".

Aline Pereira
November 2006